This weeks Instructables newsletter has a great hack for a Blu Ray Star Trek Phaser. Way cool hack! This one will cost about $100 to build but the coolness/geekiness/trekkie factor is way up there. I'd rate this one a 10 out of 10.
Ran across this great article on Breitbart about a cancer researcher who has discovered a way to burn salt water as fuel using radio frequencies. Originally, he was trying to desalinate the water and found a novel way to get it to burn. While the article is a little short on the details, it is none the less an exciting discovery as salt water is one of the most abundant resources on the planet. If this turns out to be a viable method of using it as fuel, this would certainly be a coup de gras for oil cartels and the petroleum industry.
This article on news @ nature.com discusses a recent discovery of a technique that removes the need for eggs or embryos. Three different groups in the past week have reported research that normal skin cells can be reprogrammed into an embryonic state in mice. The race is on to apply the same procedure to human cells. From the article;
"It would change the way we see things quite dramatically," says Alan Trounson of Monash University in Victoria, Australia. Trounson wasn't involved in the new work but says he plans to start using the technique "tomorrow". "I can think of a dozen experiments right now -- and they're all good ones," he says.
Found on Matt Drudge's website; This TimesOnline article reports that personal information like name and email addresses are embedded into AAC files from Apple's online music distribution service, iTunes. Effectively, this digitally watermarks purchases. The information is is also found in the tracks sold under Apple's new iTunes Plus system. It links to an ARS Technica article that originally brought the information to light. The information on how to verify this can be found here on The Unofficial Apple Weblog.
Well, this is about the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. Apparently, this cop has been in the habit of confiscating peoples pot and rather than turning it in, keeping it for personal use. So, he makes some brownies with just a 1/4 ounce of some freshly confiscated herb, eats the whole tray of brownies, and then has to call 911. Here is the 911 call in all of its glory. Enjoy.
Drugs are bad 'mkay...
What's the score on the redwings game?
Ran across this article while dredging Drudge earlier;
http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=scienceNews&storyid=2007-01-29T233921Z_01_N29192563_RTRUKOC_0_US-HOBBIT-SPECIES.xml&src=rss&rpc=22
Seems that the little hobbits finally get some recognition, interesting read, hope you enjoy.
This is just one of those astounding things... 11 million Americans who were starving no longer are! Yes folks it is true. With the swipe of a pen and a quick relabeling of terms our government spin doctors have magically declared that there are no longer any hungry or starving Americans.
Just 11 million folks with "very low food security" and zero starving people in this country.
This is total bullshit.
I hate pc terms like this as they are just convenient ways to diguise or veil situations in less than accurate ways.
Starving is Starving. Hungry is just that.
Well, well... I suppose you CAN find interesting news items on Drudge's site. This one in particular caught my attention:
Aliens could attack at any time!
UFO sightings and alien visitors tend to be solely the reserve of sci-fi movies.
So when a former MoD chief warns that the country could be attacked by extraterrestrials at any time, you may be forgiven for feeling a little alarmed.
Allright... go read the whole thing here...
For the longest time I've wanted an LCD projector for my home entertainment setup. I have the perfect wall in my living room to project it on at almost any size upto 8 ft wide (though I doubt I would try to push it to that large) and it would certainly be much nicer than the 21" tube I have at present. I'm not concerned with daylight operation as I am not home from work until after 10 most weekdays and as such on my day off I have really good blackout shades and curtains to hide from the sun. I just started looking around at projectors again and see there are lots of new options available. Do any of you have any recommendations or warnings that you could share with me as to whats good and what isn't these days?
Every now and then you get a good breath of justice... Trey and Matt rule
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/28082006/344/saddam-s-cartoon-capers.html
Hi folks, today I am doing a 'Ask Slashdot' question of my own. It's been a while since I did any serious web development and things have changed a lot in just a few short years. I have a site that I would like to do some split run testing on the pages that I am serving. The web server is running php on it as well as perl and I could use a mysql database for this if I need to (though as easy as I would like to keep this that seems like a sledghammer on a pushpin...)
The site works like this; a landing page with a few options for the visitor. The selection they make takes them to an appropriate sales letter for the option they have selected and hopefully converts them to a qualified lead/enrollment at my school. I would like to be able to;
Do any of you have a php or perl script that you would recommend that already does this? Am I using the right terms for this (in advertising/merketing this is called split testing but maybe its called something different on the web???) Any insights would help as I have limited time to work on this project.
Is it just me or have you folks noticed
Well folks, 2004 is almost gone. Hard to belive it went by so fast, and yet, it seems like the events at the beginning of the year were long ago.
So, I am finally at a point where I can actually start reading and writing a little more. Especially here on
The divorce is done and over. My ex moved to California. Good bye, and thanks for all the fish.
She still keeps calling several times a week. She wants to borrow money as she has run out of the money I gave her. For her the term borrow is rather ambiguous. She really means give, as there would not be any way for her to pay it back. I don't answer anymore and even went as far as changing my cell number to a new number to stop the barrage of calls. She manages to catch me at the school a few times a week. Retrained the whole staff to screen her calls from me...
I suffered for it last year. Both personally and professionally. I lost a few friends, my dogs and a whole lot of money that I was very blessed to be able to put together to get her to leave. The business endured a 35% attrition during the divorce. Many people who were tired of the way things were going at the school used it as an excuse to depart. Some even asked for (and got) refunds.
Painful lessons, powerful motivators.
We had a bunch of hurricanes burn up a lot of time and money, not to mention effort. Put up shutters. Take down shutters. My house, Moms house, my girlfriends house and the business. Rinse, lather, repeat every two weeks. That was a challenge that I would rather not do again anytime soon.
Now, to many that may seem like a really bad thing and admittedly for a while there things looked grim on the professional front.
Then it happened. I said to myself "self, you are smart, professional, goal oriented, strategically minded and a very savvy business guy... things have been far worse before and you turned them around so why should you let this hold you back!?!?!" (yeah, I confess, I do indeed talk to myself in just that kind of positive manner:)
I spent the last six months completely restructuring the business, the systems that operate in the background and the way we interact with clients. I redefined my marketing to employ a Parthenon of Success, versus a diving board (a Jay Abraham concept/analogy..fyi) and redevloped the USP. I started offering a results driven guarantee and various other forms of risk reversal with fantastic results. Additionally, I raised the pricing structure, considerably(we were charging less than half the national average in our industry and are now on par with it), and am very pleased with the result of that as well!
Today, the school has not only recouped the 35% attrition it experienced throuout the divorce, it has doubled the size of the student base from before the big split.
Life is good doesn't do it any kind of justice.
Life is F@#$@#ing awesome!
I am very near completion of two book projects that I have been on and off again with for years. I have two other book projects that I belive will be something people will want and buy in book stores and specialty conferences/seminars. Several new friends who are fantastic entrepreneurs in their own right are now putting together a joint venture that passed the ELF test(easy lucrative and fun) and they want me to be a part of. Nice.
I think I mentioned in a previouse JE that I also have met an incredible woman. Beautiful, smart and ambitious... Totally enjoying what life can be like when its filled with love.
I'll write a little more on Monday morning. I am looking to read how you guys did in your yearend wrap ups.
Have a great weekend!
So... yeah it has been a while since I been around here on
The divorce is officially over and done. I somehow managed to keep the school and the house by buying out the ex on both. It was a lot of money and I will be paying it off for a very long time as I refinanced the house to do it. All things considered it should be worth every penny. The end for both of us was really ugly... Way uglier than I ever imagined it would be. I'll write more about this at some point later.
I met a new gal back when I wrote the dry spell officially over entry. She and I have been spending plenty of time together and I have been living at her place. Hence why I have not been around here much. If I said she's beautiful I wouldn't be fibbing... gorgeous is more like it and what an awesome personality. Driven... goal oriented... only thing is she doesn't like cats (well until she met my cats and then decided they are not so bad afterall). No dealbreakers with this one.
I have been renovating the house(which is actually a condo on south beach) for the last couple of days. Fixed a bunch of goofs in the walls, painted, new door and locks, new lighting everywhere, new outlets, switches, dimmers, hotwater heater and also I removed the popcorn from the cieling. Whoever invented popcorn cielings should be taken out and flogged... That stuff has been the biggest pain in the ass to get off... 'nuff said. Anyways, the place is starting to look awesome and I can't wait until it is finished. I still have to build a new kitchen, new floors and redo the bathroom as it currently really sux too. A real long list of things to do with the place and enjoying every bit of it as it has completely transformed already from when I bought it (nevermind almost doubled in value in two years)
I'll be sur to post more in the coming weeks. Summer is slow at the studio so I'll have a little more time to write and participate in the journals and articles again.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend folks!
So... I have been missing on the
I met a fantastic woman the other day and have been absolutely spellbound by her. She is beautiful, athletic, intelligent, quick witted and very driven(inspiringly so). I know I probably don't deserve to have it this good but WOW! Life is good.
After what I have been through this is more of a reward than I could have dreamed of. I'll tell you more later when I have some time. I'm sure you will enjoy the more in-depth update when it happens. For now, I just may be missing in action as my life version 2.0 has begun to consume a fair amount of my time.
Life is good. Did I mention that?
"Experience has proved that some people indeed know everything." -- Russell Baker
